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Q&A
Page 34
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Can we believe the signs?
1 was fined £60 with three penalty points for 'speeding' on a stretch of dual carriageway on the A38M off Spaghetti Junction when I was travelling at only 46mph.The road signs showed 60mph but the chief constable of Cheshire has stated that HGVs over 7.5 tonnes should not exceed 40mph.There were no signs to indicate this. Is it a defence that the speed limit for HGVs on this stretch of road is not clearly indicated?
Victor Clarke.
Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk Unfortunately the Chief Constable is right! The national speed limit on a dual carriageway is 70mph and as long as lower limits are not in force, an HGV over 7.5 tonne is limited to 60mph. If a lower limit is prescribed for the road at 60mph then the HGV limit is 20mph less than that.
Although the law dictates that the national speed limit has to be signposted on the road the restricted limits which apply to other vehicles do not. As there are eight or so different classes of vehicle to which different speed limits apply, the road signs would become more than a little cluttered if each one had to be identified.
Manx vans have no tadios
1 have been asked to do a run from the Isle of Man to Scotland in a 7.5-tonne van, returning empty.The van is Manx registered and resident on the island.ft is not fitted with a tachograph because they are not required here.I am led to believe it would be okay to do this one-off trip. Is this the case?
John Wilford, Ramsey, Isle of Man The scope of the Council regulations governing tachographs is that all vehicles exceeding 3.5 tonnes used for carrying goods or passengers in an EU country must be fitted with an EC approved tachograph. One of the exemptions from this rule is a "vehicle operating exclusively on an island not exceeding 2,300krn2 in area and which is not connected to the rest of Great Britain by a bridge, ford or tunnel. Assuming that the island is small enough, you do not need a tachograph. When your vehicle is being used in the UK, you are, however, still required to keep a record of your driving and working day, which can be done with the old style record book if 1 you do not have a tachograph.While driving in the UK you would be required to comply with the drivers' hours regulations,
Can I blame my boss?
I was employed to drive a concrete mixer and. on one occasion,was sent from the depot with four metres of concrete to deliver to a house renovation.While reversing up to the house the ground under the back right-hand side wheels collapsed and my vehicle turned over on its side. I was badly shaken and off work for three months suffering from post-traumatic stress.The vehicle was taxed and licensed as follows: , Gross vehicle weight: 15,000kg Unladen vehicle weight: 7.700kg Payload: 7300kg Four metres of concrete weigh approximately 9,000kg. meaning the vehicle was overloaded by about 1,700kg. I was unaware of its carrying capacity at the time. On the day of the accident, the vehicle was loaded while I was on a break. Was my employer at fault for this accident, partly or fully?
Name and address supplied, Republic of Ireland.
I realise that you do not wish to give your name but I understand you come from the Irish Republic. Although I imagine the Irish law is the same as the UK I can only give the answer to your question, as it would be answered under English law.
Your employer is liable for any injury you suffer as a result of his failure to provide a safe system of work. Obviously the vehicle should not be overloaded but, on the other hand. it is unlikely that an overload of 1.7 tonnes would have been enough to cause the accident. A more likely cause is the ground over which the vehicle was travelling which may have been something wholly outside the control of your employer. Your solicitors will have to obtain expert advice as to whether or not, had the vehicle been loaded properly, the ground would still have given way. If the excess weight can be shown to be the cause of the accident then you have crossed the first hurdle.
The second one will beta show that the accident caused the post-traumatic stress disorder you are now suffering. Expert advice will be necessary from a psychologist, firstly as to whether or not these events could cause that illness and secondly the extent of it. Fortunately your employer will have insurance to cover such claims—the problem is that some insurers can be pretty tough in fighting this sort of claim.
Is it legal to split your rest?
Under new hours regulations can the rest periods be broken up? For example,if you drive three hours and have 30min rest,can you then drive for 4.5 hours and have 45min rest? Recently. I split a 4.5-hour drive with a 20min and a 25min rest.The Department for Transport says this is okay but the South Yorkshire policeman who checked my tachograph said he wasn't happy with it.
Neil Hadfield, Ecclesfield, Sheffield I am not sure what new regulations you are talking about because at the moment we still operate under the original rules. Even under the proposed amendment to the regulations a 45min rest has to betaken after 4,5 hours driving. That rest can be split into periods not less than 15 minutes so your 20min and 25min would count.The breaks in total have to be taken after 4.5 hours and before driving again. You cannot drive for three hours, have a 30min rest and then drive for a further 4.5 hours. After 1.5 hours you would need to have taken another 15min to comply with regulations.